While thinking of another topic at this board a realized to be puzzled concerning the details of the XPRIZE CUP-rule "Fastest Flight Time".

The maximum-altitude-rule requires increased thurst resulting in increased velocity. But higher altitude achieved this way requires more time to return to earth's surface - looks like nobody can achieve fastest flight time AND maximum altitude of all paarticipants.

So - does "Fastest Flight Time" mean fastest time to a certain altitude or a certain apogee not including time to return?

Next "Fastest Flight Time" might be reached by less deceleration at reentry.

May be the question has been asked before - but I'm puzzled yet. It's a little bit complex.

Well fastest flight time could very well be the shortest amount of time from launch to landing, would be my guess. Maybe it means althought going a certain distance first, attaining to everyone, and then landing. That whole time would be launch, rise, flight, descent, landing. That's my best guess, and as Cadet said those are both possibilities, maybe those are seperate prizes?

Shortest time from launch to landing without a certain distance is my initial problem - the prize could be won be choosing the least altitude of 100 km whereas another team goes higher. This could be prvent the competition for maximum altitude.

So a certain alttude of apogee to me seems to be required.

"Fastest" flight time seems to say that it is a competition for velocity.

The flight time slightly might be controlled by the number of passengers too...

But might it be that during the ten days of competition all the five categories are unsolveable connected? Fastest flight time effects the competition for fastest trun-around time too which has been defined as shortest time between first launch and second landing.

But each team has several flights - one flight of SS1 requires around three hours only. So it may fly two times a day perhaps in 2006 - consequently 20 times during the whole competiton in theory.